Railway switch and signal mechanism.



PATENTED JAN. 23, 1906.

' 0. M. HURST.

SWITCH. AND SIGNAL MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED MAY 27.1905.

RAILWAY lraeas 66 No. 810,867. PATENTED JAN. 23,1903.

0. M. HURST.

RAILWAY SWITCH AND SIGNAL MECHANISM APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1905.

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26629662 ,jzdezzfavt' PATENTED JAN. 23, 1906.

C. M. HURST. RAILWAY SWITCH AND SIGNAL MECHANISM.

APPLICATION-FILED MAY 27. 1905.

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through-track and contemplates means for, .opening the switch 'toaccommodate the U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAILWAY SWITCH TAND. SIGNAL MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

3 Patented. Jan. 23, 1906.

Application filed May 27, 1905- Serial No, 262,564.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, CHARLES M. HURsT, a citizenof the United States,and a resident of Rawlins, county of Carbon, and State ofWyo- .ming,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Switch andSignal Mechanism, of which the following is a specification and whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forminga part thereof.This invention relates to'the class of switch and signal mechanisms bymeans of which the switch and the signal indicating the osition of theswitch are set to accommo ate the movement of a passing train by acontacting appurtenance of the engine or car of that train. I, a

The object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of the'kinddescribed of simple and durable construction and one whoseaction will bepositive and reliable.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts tobe hereinafter described and which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure l is a plan view of a section of arailwaytrack, showing the invention applied Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailof the same, showing the parts in a different position. Figs. 3 and 4are detail elevations drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 5 is a plan view ofa detail shown in Fig. 3 and Figs. 6 and 7 .are sectional viewson thelines 6 6 and 7 7,

res ectively, of Fig. 1.

n the drawingsmyinvention is illustrated as being employed in connectionwith a switch oining asiding and a main line or movement of a traincoming out of the siding and for closing the switch'by a trainapproaching it on the main line from either direction. The adaptation-ofthe device to more complicated systems of track requires merely aduplication of the parts hereinshown and described.

At 10, 11, .and 12 are indicated the rails of themain line orthrough-track, which are secured to the usual cross-ties '13. The rail10 is bent outwardly, as shown at 14, a continuation of the same formingthe outer rail 15 'of'thesiding, While the inner rail 16 of the siding,joins the rail 12 of the through-track at the frog 17. j

. The movable or switch rails are. shown at 18 and 19. These areattached fat one end near the frog 17 and form, respectively, either aconnection between the parts 10 and 12 of the inner rail of thethrough-track or a connectingfmeans between the outer rail 11 of thethrough-track and the rail 16 of'the siding. The points of theswitch-rails 1 8 and 19 are. firmly'secured to a bridle-rod 20, placedbeneath the trackand extending laterally for some distance in bothdirections. At one sideof the track this bridle-rod isconnected, bymeansof a lever 21 and pin 22, to the'bas'e of a signal or target 23, whichis rotatably mounted in a tubular post 24, secured to one of thecross-ties 13, and is provided with the usual hand-lever 25, by means ofwhich the target maybe manually rotatedgthus moving the bridle-rod 20and setting the switch. ,Be-

yond the track at the opposite side from the target 23 the bridle-rod 20is provided with a plurality of curved slots 26, 27, and 28,.each

of which is engaged byjone arm of a'belle crank lever, as 29, '30, or31. Each of these bell-crank levers is. pivoted upon a bolt 32,

secured ina plate 33, spiked to-the cross-ties 13, and the end ofone ofthe arms of each is turned downwardly, as indicated at 34, such endpassing through the correspondingly .curvedslot in the bridle-rod 20 andbeing providedbelow such rod with a nut an washer 35. The other arm ofeach of the bell-cranks is connected, by means. of a tension-rod 36,37,- or 38, respeotively,withthe opcrating-lever 49 of'a trippin device39, 40, 41. This tripping device may e of any desired construction, butpreferably will be of the type having an oscillating apron locatedbeside the track and adapted to be engaged by an appurtenance of apassing train, In the drawings I show in this connection a trippingdevice of this type, for which I filed an application for patentNovember24, 1904, Serial No. 234,290, and which consists of a pair ofbell-crank levers 42and 43, pivoted in chairs 44 and 45, secured to thetrack adjacent one of the rails, so that one arm of each extendsparallel to the rail and is inclined upwardly. These arms arev depressedwhen engaged by the passing train, and being joined by a pin and slot.46the depression of one'causes the depression of the other. thesebell-crank levers are substantially ver- The other arms of tical and areconnected, by means of links 47 and'48, to the operating-lever 49 atopposite sides of its pivot 50,. so that the depression of the inclinedarms causes this lever to swing always 111 the same direction.

I I0 For ,contacting'with the tripping device there is a shoe.

. tion and preferably has one end attached to the lever 49 and .theother secured to the track.

The tension-rod 38 is led across the track beneath the rails, so as tojoin the bell-crank 31 with the tripping device 41 by means of evers 54and'55, spliced into two bell-crank the tension-rod intermediate of itsends and pivoted at 56 and 57 in suitable plates secured to thecross-ties at oppositesides of the track.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming the parts to be inthe position illus trated in Fig. 1, a train coming out of the sidingand provided with such a shoe as-is shown at 53 will depress the levers42 and 43 as it passes the tripping device 39, thereby causing a pull onthe rod 36, which will swing the bell-crank 2'9 and move the bridle-rod20, setting the switch-rails 18 19 to the open position, Fig. 2, andturning the target 23 so as to indicate such a position of the switchrails. After the shoe 53 has passed over the tripping device the spring'51 will raise the inclined arms of the levers 42 and 43. and retractthe tension member 36, moving the downwardly-turned end 34; of thebell-crank 29 in the slot 26. During the movement of the bridle-rod 20corresponding to the setting of the switch just described the bellcranks30 and 31 remain stationary, the rod riding along on thedownwardly-turned ends 34 of such cranks.- The slots in the rod are ofsuch length that when the switch is completely open the crank-arms willbear against their outer ends, as shown in Fig. 2. When now the trainafter having passed out of-the siding reaches and depresses the trippingde-- vice 40, the bell-crank 30 will be swung'by the tension on the rod37 .and moving the bridle-rod 2-0 by hearing against the outer end ofthe slot 27 will return the switch-rails and signal to the closedposition of Fig. 1. A. train approaching the switch on the main trackfrom either direction will depress one of the tripping devices 40 or 41before reaching the switch and if the latter be already closed willmerely oscillate the downwardly-turned end 34 of the bell-crank 30 or 31in the corresponding slot in the bridle-rod 20. If, however, the. switchhas been left open, the depression of the tripping device will close itand prevent the train running out on the siding if coming from the leftas viewed in Fig.

1 or damaging the switch-rails 18 19 if co1n-' ing from the right. Toavoid closing the switch by a train coming out of the siding before itslast cars have reached the main track,

device 40 will neces arily be vers, each having a crank pin entering oneof 7c the. slots; spring-supported trips for engage ment by a passingtrain and located respec'-- tively adjacent the switch and main tracks;rods connecting each trip mechanism with one of the bell-crank leversthe belbcra nk levers controlled the switch and main track trips,respectively, being so mount d as to open and close the switchrespectively when actuated in opposition be their retrac' ing-springa p2. In combination, a railway-track; a switch-track connected therewith;a bridle; rod for actuating the switch; tri .mecham ism located adjacentthe main trac and adj a-- cent the switch-track for engagement a movingtrain 5 connection between such trip mechanism and the bridle-rod, andarranged reverselyl, jacent t e main track will close the switch and theaction of the trip adjacent the switch= track'will open the switch.

3. In combination, a 'reciprocative bridle= rcd for railway=switches;spring=retracted ing train and acting on the bridle-rod to move it inone direction only and independent train-actuated means for positivelymov ing the bridle-rod in the opposite direction.

4. In combination, a pair of spring retracted mechanisms adapted to beactuated by a passing trainand each acting on the bri-- dle-rod to moveit in one direction only, the direction of action of the two mechanismsbe ing reverse.

5. In combination, a pair of vertically= swingingsprin raisedinterlocking bcll crank levers; an osci lating lever; links connectingthe opposite ends of the oscillating lever with each bell-crank lever; abridle-rod having a longitudinal slot; a bell-crank carrying a pinrunning in the slot; and a link connecting the other arm of thelast-named bell-crank with the oscillating link.

6. In combination, a bridle-bar having longitudinal slots; a pair ofbell-crank levers, each having a pin engaging one of such slots;spring-returned trip mechanisms adapted to be actuated by a passingtrain; a link connecting each bell-crank lever wit-h one of the tripmechanisms, such bell-crank levers be ing so mounted that they act inopposite directions under the influence of their respective tripmechanisms.

CHARLES M. I-IURST.

